I love the Swarm, but I know exactly what you mean about rider interaction. I think this applies to the Station as well, there's just no atmosphere in there. Really I would have liked that to have a closed roof.
That's actually a very good point... It is actually a shame that the queue is so bland and boring, and the helicopter is in such an odd place, right out of the way. You could easily miss it if you weren't looking out for it... Also considering that they had a blank canvas to work with, the queueing/bagdrop/frontrow system is terrible.
It's very easy to sit here and complain though. Yeah it has it's down sides, but to be fair to them The Swarm is still amazing. We could pick fault with any ride if we tried hard enough.
I can't see the problem with this new billboard tbh. Yeah ok, a small building or part of the church would have been better, but hey, I'd rather have a Ferrari than my clapped out old Golf, but it achieves much the same thing, and is fit for purpose. I reckon the billboard could be the best near-miss on the entire ride. It will light up at night too, which will make the island look even more spectacular in the dark. Hopefully some of the lights will flicker as well.